Archaeology

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Pablo Romero Pellitero will present "Approximation to the study of the historical agrarian Landscapes of Sierra Nevada (Granada) by Remote Sensing. The case of the MEMOLA project" in the seminar "Archaeology and society of agrarian spaces: finding the invisible people through the materiality of landscape" organise by Instituto de Arqueología-Mérida (CSIC-Junta de Extremadura)

The MEditerranean MOuntainous LAndscapes Project, financed by European Commission FP-7 (#613265), is coordinated by José María Martin Civantos, associate professor and researcher at the Dept of Medieval History, Universidad de Granada (Spain). The project aims to apply an interdisciplinary perspective to study the evolution of Mediterranean mountainous cultural landscapes.

We announce the opportunity to participate in the 1st Archaeological Excavation Campaign, authorized by the Soprintendenza ai Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Trapani, at Castello Eufemio in Calatafimi Segesta (Trapani).

The castle is located at a calcareous summit (400 ft) and it controls all the current urban centre. The present village was developed to the East since the 16th-17th centuries, leaving the castle protected from this urban growth. The Castello Eufemio gives its name to the village: Qal’at Fîmî, that means Eufemio’s castle, and it appears in the Idrisi’s documents as a fortress with village annexed. In 1239 the castle becomes part of castra exempta of Federico II, i.e one of the castles controlled directly by the throne in their fight against Muslims. It remained this way until 1336 when the castle passes into the hands of different landowners. The castle will be converted into a prison from half of 17th century until 1868, when it was abandoned.

The excavations made at Castello Eufemio at the end of last century was focused on the restoration and conservation of the more recent structures. During this excavations different materials (pottery) from the 11th-12th centuries were located, confirming a possible occupation during that period. The main objective of our excavation will be the documentation of structures related to this chronology or to previous phases of the castle.

The MEMOLA partners that participate in the III excavation Campaign are:

The MEditerranean MOuntainous LAndscapes Project, financed by European Commission FP-7 (nº 613265), is coordinated by José María Martin Civantos, associate professor and researcher at the Dept of Medieval History, Universidad de Granada (Spain).

The project aims to apply an interdisciplinary perspective to study the evolution of Mediterranean mountainous cultural landscapes. In September and October, 2014, the archaeological excavation started, at Pago del Jarafi (Lanteira-Granada). After obtaining great results, documenting numerous settlement structures, silos for grain storage and a necropolis, we are returning to Lanteira for a new excavation campaign.

The MEMOLA project partners that participate in this intervention are: